Sewing machine presser foot



March 26, 1968 M. M. LONGCORE SEWING MACHINE PREssER Poom Filed Sept. 16, 1965 United States Patent O 3,374,759 SEV/ENG MACHINE PRESSER FOOT Milton M. Longcore, Stronach, Mich., assignor to Glen Mfg., Inc., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Sept. 16, 1965, Ser. No. 487,727 8 Claims. (Cl. 112-235) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLSURE A presser foot usable in making crack stitches immediately adjacent a fold in a piece of material, said presser foot including a pair of laterally spaced toes deining a needle receiving slot therebetween. A guide surface is provided intermediate of said toes, and is adapted to be engaged by the fold in said material, whereby said material can be moved along said guide surface and a stitch made immediately adjacent said fold.

This invention relates in general to sewing machines, and more particularly to a new and improved presser foot for use in a sewin g machine.

In the sewing machine art it is conventional to attach a presser foot to a support member carried by the sewing machine with the presser foot being spaced slightly from the bed of the machine. Feed dogs are provided in the sewing machine bed for feeding material past a vertically reciprocal needle, which is received between the spaced toes of the presser foot. Presser feet of known design have functioned satisfactorily for most sewing operations, however, they have proven unsatisfactory in making a crack stitch closely adjacent to a fold in the fabric being sewn, as would occur in the sewing of waistbands, cuffs, collars, biased armholes, or the like. With presser feet of known design, it has not been possible to sew at full speed of the sewing machine, and it has been dicult to prevent the machine from sewing on top of the fabric fold rather than in the crack adjacent thereto. Accordingly, the general purpose of the present invention is to provide a presser foot structure which obviates the problems noted above in connection with prior art devices, and which enables a crack stitch to be accurately sewn at the full speed of a sewing machine.

An object of the invention is to provide a presser foot for a sewing machine which enables a crack stitch to be sewn adjacent a fold in the material being sewn which is substantially hidden beneath the fabric fold.

Another object of the invention is to provide a presser foot with guide means for guiding material past the needle of a sewing machine whereby a crack stitch as described in the preceding paragraph may be sewn.

A further object of the invention is to provide a presser foot as described above with guide means for pressing the fabric fold away from the sewing machine needle during the crack stitching operation so that the crack stitch can be located immediately adjacent to the fold.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a guide means as described above for conventional presser feet, so that they can be readily converted for effective sewing of crack stitches.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a conventional sewing machine presser foot, as modified by a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the presser foot illustrated in FIG. 1, and shown in relationship to a sewing machine bed;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational View of the presser foot illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;

3,374,759 Patented Mar. 26, 1968 FIG. 4 is a sectional View taken generally along line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and i FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the presser foot structure illustrated in FIGS. l-4.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawing and will herein be described in detail one specific embodiment with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplication of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to FIG. 1, wherein a modified conventional prior art presser foot 10 is illustrated, it will be seen that the presser foot includes a generally vertically extending shank portion 11 which is secured to a suitable downwardly extending support 12 of a sewing machine, as by a set screw 13. A laterally inclined portion 14 eX- tends downwardly from shank portion 11 and terminates in an enlarged pivot section 15. Pivot section 15 has a recess 16 in the bottom thereof which provides a seat for a biasing member in the form of a compression spring 17. A foot portion 18 is pivotally secured to the section 15, and includes a pair of spaced, upwardly extending side members 19 and Z which dene a mounting means for the foot portion. Section 15 is received between members 19 and 20, and a pivot pin 21 impales each of members 19 and 20 and section 15 to pivotally mount the foot portion 18 relative to the support 12. The spring 17 bears against a generally horizontally disposed surface 22 between members 19 and 2G to bias the foot portion 18 in a counterclockwise direction about pivot pin 21. The lower portion of the forward end of section 15 defines an abutment 23 which engages the surface 22 to locate the foot portion 18 in the position shown in the drawing.

The foot portion 18 includes a pair of laterally spaced toes 24 and 25 which extend forwardly from the shank portion of the presser foot. As best seen in FIG. 1, toes 24 and 25 are generally coplanar throughout their length, and the respective forwardmost ends thereof 24a and 25a are upwardly curved. Toes 24 and 25 dene therebetween a needle receiving slot 26 for the needle 27 (FIG. 4) of a sewing machine. As can be best seen in FIG. 4 toe 25 iS substantially shorter than toe 24 for gauging purposes.

The presser foot structure described above is generally conventional, and great difficulties have been encountered in attempting to sew a crack stitch at high speeds with such a presser foot. The crack stitch is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 wherein a band of material 30 is being sewn to a length of material 31. The band of material is folded at 32 and 33 to define a rst or lower length of material 34, a second or 'upper length of material 35, and a third or intermediate length of .material 36. As seen in FIG. 3, the length yof material 31 is interposed between the lengths 34 and 36, and the three layers are stitched together at 37 to partially attach the band 30 to the length 31. To cornplete the attachment of band 30 to the length 31 it is desirable to stitch the lengths 31 and 34 together at 38, immediately adjacent and below the fold 33 in a manner such that the fold 33 hides the switch 38. When a conventional presser `:foot 10 is used, great difficulty is encountered in aligning the fold 33 with the needle 27 when sewing the crack stitch 38 at a rapid rate, and oftentimes the stitch will pass through the layers 34-36, and at other times the stitch will be spaced a substantial distance from the fold 33. In order to correctly make the stitch 38 with a conventional presser foot, it has heretofore been necessary to materially slow the speed of the machine in order to accurately align the material with the needle 27.

To obviate the problem set forth in the preceding paragraph, guide means in the form of a guide member 40 is provided on the foot portion 18. The guide member 40 includes a generally planar rear mounting portion 41, and a pair of laterally spaced fingers 42 and 43 extend forwardly from portion 41. The forwardmost portions 42a and l43a of fingers 42 and 43 are upwardly curved, with finger portion 42a conforming to the curvature of toe portion 24a. As is best seen in lFIGS. 4 and 5, finger 42 is substantially coextensive with toe 24, while finger 43 is substantially longer than finger 42 and extends forwardly from toe 24. One side 44 of the guide member 40 is positioned in substantial vertical alignment with the side i face 18a of foot portion 18. The opposite side 45 of the guide member 40 is positioned in general vertical alignment with the needle receiving slot 26 at approximately the mid-portion thereof. Side 45 is generally vertically disposed, and is adapted t-o engage the fold 33 as the j material is moved past the needle 27 during a crack stitching operation. An inwardly directed notch or cut-out 46 is provided in guide surface 45 to clear the'needle 27.

Thus, during the crack stitching operation, the material will be fed along the bed B (FIG. 2) of the sewing machine by the feed dogs D in a conventional manner. The sewing machine operator will position the article being sewed with the fold 33 pressed against the guide surface 45, and as the material is fed past the needle 27 the stitch 38 wil-l be made closely adjacent to the cfold 33. Since the forwardmost ends 42a and 43a of the guide member are upwardly curved the material may 'be fed under the presser foot without difculty. Additionally, the side 45 of the guide member 40 provides a vertical guide surface which is substantially longer than the presser foot, to provide an effective wall against which the fold 33 may be moved during the crack stitching operation. Thus, it will be apparent that the guide member 40 will enable the needle 27 to consistently operate closely adjacent to the fold 33 without passing through the top 35 of the band 30.

In a preferred form of the invention, the guide member 40 is formed of brass and soldered to the undersurface of the foot portion 18. It should be understood, however, that the present invention is not limited to the use of brass, and also contemplates that any equivalent means of securing the guide member to the foot portion may be utilized.

From the above, it will be readily apparent that each of the objects of the invention has been fully achieved.

I claim:

1. A presser foot structure for a sewing machine comprising: `a shank portion for attaching the foot to a sewing machine; a foot portion at the lower end of said shank portion, and including a pair of laterally spaced forwardly extending toes defining therebetween a needle receiving slot; and guide means -on one of said toes, said guide means including a guide surface in alignment with said slot intermediately thereof tfor guiding material having a fold therein past said needle, said guide surface extending forwardly from the outer ends of said toes, wfliereby a stitch may be made immediately adjacent said fo d.

2. A presser foot structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said guide surface is generally vertically disposed.

4 3. A presser foot structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said guide means is defined by a guide member secured to said foot portion.

4. A presser foot structure as defined in claim 1 wherein a needle receiving notch is provided in said guide surface.

5. A presser foot structure for a sewing machine, com-V prising: a shank portion for attaching the foot to a sewing machine; a ffoot portion yat the lower end of said shank portion, and including a pair of laterally spaced forwardly extending toes defining therebetween a needle receiving slot; and a guide member secured to the undersurface of said foot portion and including, Ia generally planar rear mounting portion, and a pair of laterally spaced finger portions extending `forwardly from said mounting portion, one of said finger portions being shorter than the other and secured to the undersurface of one of said toes, a generally vertically disposed guide surface positioned in alignment with said slot and extending from end to end of said member along one side thereof [for guiding material having a fold therein past said needle, whereby a stitch may be made immediately adjament said fold, and a needle receiving notch in said guide surface intermediate the ends thereof.

`6. A presser foot structure for a sewing machine, comprising: a shank portion for attaching the foot to a sewing machine; a foot portion at the lower end of said shank portion and having an undersurface with a generally planar rear section, said foot portion including a pair of laterally spaced forwardly extending toes defining therebetween Ia needle receiving slot, one of said toes being longer than the other and each of said toes having an upwardly curved forward end and a guide member secured to the undersurface of said foot portion and including, a generally planar rear mounting portion, a pair of laterally spaced finger portions extending forwardly from said mounting portion, one of said finger portions being shorter than the other and secured to the undersurface of the longer of said toes, each of said finger portions having an upwardly curved forward end `and the longer of said fingers extending forwardly of the longer of said toes, a generally vertically disposed guide surface positioned in alignment with said slot and extending from end to end of said member along one side thereof for guiding material having a fold therein past said needle, whereby a stitch may Ibe made immediately adjacent said fold, and a needle receiving notch in said guide surface intermediate the ends thereof.

7. A presser foot structure as defined in claim 6 wherein said guide mem-ber is formed of brass.

8. A presser lfoot structure as defined in claim 7 wherein said guide member is soldered to said foot portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 668,264 2/ 1901 Pearce 112-235 1,300,184 4/ 1919 Mittleberg 112-235 1,852,952 4/1932 Chudner 112--151 2,592,653 4/ 1952 Burgess et al. 112-151 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary` Examiner, 

